MOATMEN MISERY ENDS PLAY-OFF HOPES

Blues play-off hopes were all but ended with a disappointing 1-0 home defeat against Gresley.

With the Moatmen having been hammered 8-1 at home less than 48 hours earlier it was fair to say most Blues fans were expecting a resounding victory with their side scoring ten goals in the two previous games.

Neil Baker unsurprisingly opted to name an unchanged starting eleven with Tim Grice needing just two goals to break the club's all-time scoring record and he could have completed the job within the opening quarter of an hour of the game.

His first opportunity came after 11 minutes when after latching on to a through ball he lifted the ball perfectly over the oncoming keeper, but was desperately unlucky to see the ball rebound off the crossbar.

Three minutes later, Grice got in a close range header from Rob Stevenson's cross that Callum Hawkins did brilliantly to save, but when the ball arrived back at Grice's feet his snap effort for 3 yards went over the bar.

The Moatmen took the lead on the 26 minutes with their first effort on goal. Oliver Bassett hitting a low shot past Danny Roberts.

Blues pushed for an equaliser and right on the stroke of half-time another Grice header was superbly clawed away by Hawkins as it looked destined for the top corner.

Baker made a triple substitution early in the second half and in the 63rd minutes Stevenson found himself with time and space to pick his spot with a free header, only to see his effort hit the foot of the post.

Gresley almost increased their lead after 76 minutes when Courtney Meade's shot flashed across goal from the left and hit the crossbar.

Dan Trickett-Smith headed wide from Niall Maguire's cross late on, but Blues could not find the target and slumped to a shock defeat.

Team: Roberts, Green, Richards, Maguire, Lycett, Bailey (Chadwick, 55), Johnson (Lemon, 55), Hall (Grocott, 55), Grice, Trickett-Smith, Stevenson

Unused sub: Kearns

Yellow card: Grocott

Attendance: 301

Man of the Match: Caleb Richards